Car construction



A E Y R U D U w CAR CONSTRUCTION Original Filed April 27, 1925 2Sheets-Sheet 'Til 0. C. DURYEA CAR CONSTRUCTION Original Filed April 27,1925 2 Sheets-Shee't Patented Oct. 2,24, 1929 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE OTHO C. DURYEA., OF WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR T 0. C.DURYEA COH- IORATION, OF WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, A. CORPORATION OFDELAWARE CAR CONSTRUCTION Original application filed April 27, 1925,Serial No. 26,267, now Patent No. 1,693,194, dated, November 2t', 1928.Divided and this application filed May 22, .1928. Seria-l No. 279,833.

This invention relates to railway rolling stock, and is a division of myco-pending application'Serial No. 26,267, filed April 27, 1925, nowPatent No. 1,693,194 dated November 27, 1928.

An object of the present invention is to prol vide a car structure ofthetype disclosed in my application above referred to and embodying novelmeans for guiding and supporting the center draft and butling memberintermediate the body holsters.

,Another object is to provide a novel cross bearer for use in carstructures embodying a relatively movable draft and bui'ling memberwhich extends substantially the' length of the car structure.

A further object is to provide a novel cross bearer having one or moreopenings therethrough, the cross bearer being provided with a centerbrace, in combination with the longitudinally movable center draft andbufng member.

One form which the inventive idea may assume is shown in theaccompanying drawings, which drawings, however, are for purposes ofillustration only and are not to be taken as a definition of the limitsof the invention, reference being had to the appended claims for thispurpose.

In the drawings,--

Fig. 1 is a top plan view illustrating one form of the presentinvention'` Fig. 2 is an enlarged horizontal section, illustrating oneform of means `for limiting relative longitudinal movement between thecenter member and the remainder of the car;

Fig. 3 is a transverse detail sectional View, somewhat enlarged,illustrating one form of bolster and centei member construction;

Fig. l is a transverse detail view in section, illustrating one mannerof connecting the resilient means to the center member;

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 5*-5 of Fig. 1;and

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view with parts broken away taken onthe line 6-6 of Fia'. 1.

Referring to the drawings, wherein like reference characters refer tolike parts throughout the several views, the car construction of thepresent invention may embody a body portion having side sills 10, endsills 11 and a flooring 12. In'engagement with the side sills are apluralit of transverse members which include bo'y bolsters 13 and one ormore cross bearers 14. Each body bolster 'is mounted on the usual truckbolster 15, partially shown in Figure 3, the connection between the bodyholsters 13 and truck holsters 15 being the usual type of center plateand king-pin 16. r

lMounted for relative longitudinal move ment with respect to the truckbolsters 15 and preferably with respect to the remainder of the carstructure, is a long travel center member 17 which, in the form shown,includes a center sill that may be formed of two vertim cally disposedU-shaped channel members 18 and reinforced members 19 that are securedin any suitable manner to the opposite ends of the center sill.Preferably, the reinforcn ing members, which will be referred tohereafter as draft sills, are formed of castings provided withshouldered openin 's 191, with end shoulders 19b constituting a strikingplate, and

with rear shoulders 19C for a purpose to be described hereinafter. Thecastings 19 are rigidly attached to the center sill astloy means it iiiof rivets 20, the ends of the channel members 18 of the center sillpreferably having abutting engagement with the shoulders 191', wherebyany thrust on the draft sills is not thrown directly on said rivets 20.ein' suit-n able iiieans, such as tie plates 21, may e cui plcyed forstrengthening and bracing 'the channel members 18 constituting thecenter member.

ln order that damage may not result to the car or its lading from impactstresses, such as are produced whe.; butling a car, or when rapidlychanging its speed of movement, the center member 17, as above stated,is mounted for longitudinal movement relative to certain of thetransverse members, as for example the holsters 13, and means areprovided for yieldingly resisting relative movement between the centermember and said transverse members whereby the forces tendn ing to causedamage are gradually absorbed. lnthe form shown, body holsters 13 areeach till . provided with a pair of adjacent openings 22 tending asuitable distance on the oppositel sides of the latter, are wear plates23 which have engagement on the outer faces of the same with suitablewear plates secured to holsters 13, such for example as thesubstantially wedge-shaped plates 24 interposed between said wear platesand the side wall of i the opening 22 in the bolster. Similar wearplates 25 may be secured to the inner surface of each of the channelmembers 18 opposite the outer plates 23.

Yieldin means of any suitable type are provided or yieldingly resistinglongitudinal movement of the center member relative to the transversemembers, said means being preferably combined with friction elements,for example, means for positively producing friction between the wearplates 23 and the wedge-shaped plates 24, which latter may be fixedlysecured in any suitable manner to the bolsters 13 as by means ofwelding. In the form shown, a casting 26 is secured, as by means ofrivets 27, to the channel members 18, at a suitable distance from thebolsters 13, and through this member 26, extends one or more rods 28 onwhich are slidably mounted adjacent the opposite ends thereof, followerplates 29 and 30 which are engaged by the opposite ends of a coil spring3l. Mounted for slidable movement through the casting 26 are a pair ofrods 32 provided at the inner ends thereof with nuts 33 which arenormally in engagement with the follower plate 29 and which carry on theopposite ends thereof a plurality of friction shoes 34, 35. The followerplates 29, 30 and the rods 28, 32 con- Stitute a yoke for the spring 31.The 'outer pair of friction shoes 34 are held in position on said rods32 by means of nuts 36 and by engagement with the diamond-sh apedportion 13a of the bolster, said shoes being provided with inclinedfaces on the inner sides thereof,

' which faces are inclined at an angle similar to the sides of thediamond-shaped portion 13a. The inner friction shoes 35 are alsoprovided with inclined faces which engage two sides of thediamond-shaped portion 13'd1 and these shoes are provided with alongitudinally extending boss 35a which normally has engagement with theouter face of follower plate 30.

Suitable coupler means are employed, but in the present instance thenecessity for the usual draft gears is eliminated due to the use of themeans previously described for yieldingly resisting relative movement ofthe center member 17. In the form shown, a coupler shank 37 is securedfor limited longitudinal movement relative` to. said center member bymeans of a coupler shank key 38 which extends through the shoulderedopenings 19a in said draft sills. The movement of the coupler relativeto the center member provides slack between the cars of a train. Anopening 37 is provided in the coupler shank of such size that limitedmovement is provided between said shank and said key 38. In engagementwith shoul ders 37", formed interior-ly of the coupler shank, is aresilient member 39 which has engagement at its inner end with a wearplate 40 bearing against the side of the coupler shank key 38. Stops 41,if desired, may be secured to the channel members 18 adjacent the innerends of wear plates 23, 25 for a purpose to be described hereinafter.

If desired, the center member 17 may be rigidly secured to the crossbearers 14 and the latter may have sliding engagement with the 1sidesills 10, as is shown in my Patent No. 1,693,193 dated November 27,1928, but preferably the ends of the cross bearers 14 are rigidlysecured to side sills 10 and the center member is mounted for1ongitudinal` movement relative to said cross bearers in any suitablemanner, as for example, in a manner similar to that shown in Figure 3,where the center member extends through openings in the transversemember. In the form shown, each of the cross bearers 14 is constitutedby an integrally formed, llanged member 14a which may be pressed intoshape, and which is provided with an opening in the central portionthereof. Members 42, which may be formed as castings, are prefer ablysecured to the members 14 adjacent the openings therein, and constitutea part of said cross bearers. The members 42 include portions42a whichextend vertically across the central portion of the openings. Theportions 42a constitute center braces 'or the cross bearers and provideguiding surfaces for center member 17 whereby movement of the latter ineither direction in a horizontal plano is prevented. Extending laterallyfrom the center brace portions 42 are ears or projections 42b that areof substantial width in a horizontal direction and constitute guidingand bearing surfaces for the upper and lower flanges of channels 18,whereby member 17 is guided in a vertical plane. As shown more clearlyin Figs. 4 and 6, longitudinal stringers 43 which are preferably formedof wood, are interposed between the flooring 12 and the upper flanges ofchannels 18. lVeight transmitted through flooring 12 and stringers 43 tothe center member 17 is transferred by the latter member to crossbearers 14 and thence to the side sills 10. Relative movement of thecenter meaeve member in either direction is yieldingly re sisted by thefriction between the contacting surfaces of stringers 43 and the flangesof members 18. The stringers 43 constitute friction means for resistingmovement of the center member and the friction resulting from the use ofsaid stringers varies with the weight of the lading carried on theflooring 12. Friction is also generated between the lower` flanges ofchannels 18 and the surfaces of ears or portions 12h Stringers d3 resistdeflection of the cross bearers in horizontal planes.

Operations-Any force exerted on the car for placing it in motion, forchanging its rate of motion, or for coupling the same to another car, isreceived by the coupler shank 37 and is transferred through key 38 tocenter member 17, and motion is thereby im# parted to the latter.Because of the inertia scribed above. Shoulders 13% formed on inner endsof the draft sills 19, and members lilconstitute positive stops forlimiting the relative movement of the center memberl'l in eitherdirection. rlhe provision of stops 19C and 41 on the center member,which stops are adapted to engage the bolster 13, results in a structurewhich cannot go solid within the meaning of the term as employed in theart, i. e., no part of the energy dissipating means 31, 34:, 35 can gosolid when highly stressed under a draft or butiing force, the relativemovement of these elements being positively limited by said stops which.are located at a distance from the energy dissipat ing means. 'lheopenings 3f in` 'the coupler yshanlr are of such size that there ispositive of the remainder of the car structure, and

the lading carried thereby, the center member receives longitudinalmovement relative to the remainder of said structure, which relativemovement acts'through member 26 to produce a longitudinal movement ofthe rods 28 to the left, for example, as viewed in Fig. 2, together withthe follower plate 30, thereby compressing the spring 31. vResil ientmember 31 resists this compression and the same exerts a force onfollower plate y29 tending to move said plate to the left. rll`histendency is resisted by nuts 33 on the inner ends of rods 32, which rodsextend loose ly through the follower plates 30, with the result thatfriction shoes 34 are drawn to the left thereby wedging said shoesbetween the diamond-shaped portion 13a of the body bolster 13, and wearplates 25 secured to the channel members 18. This pressure on the wearplates 25 forces the wear plates 23 more closely into engagement withthe wedge-shaped plates 24 and produces a large amount of frictionbetween plates 24 and 23, which friction tends to yieldingly resistrela. tive longitudinal movement of the center member, and to dissipatea large amount of the energy tending to produce the relative movement.

rlhe resilient means and friction elements at the opposite ends of thecar act simultaneously and in combination to resist relative movementbetween the center member and the car body, regardless of the directionof relative movement of said center member.

lf force is applied to the Acenter member 17 tending to move the latterto the right, as viewed in Figure 2, this energy is transferred by thecasting 26, rigidly secured to the center sill, to the follower plate 29thereby tending to compress spring 31. rl`he force of the spring 31 isexerted on follower plate 3() whereby the inner friction shoes 35 areforced outwardly into engagement with the wear plates 25 with a resultsimilar to that den engagement of the edge of the lrey 32B with the wallof the opening before the coils of Athe spring 39 are forced intoengagement one with the other, thereby preventing over-loading of thespring. The coupler shank, however, goes solid on lrey 38 and apredetermined and invariable train slaclr is thus provided, which slackis preferably less than that resulting from the use of the short traveldraft gears employed at present.

lt will he understood that the length and size of the springs 31, or theinclination of the inner faces of the friction .shoes 3Ll, 35 and of theouter faces of the portion 13a, or both, may be varied as desired tocontrol the amount of relative movement between the center member andthe transverse members. rlhe extent of relativo movement of the cen-1lll titl

ter member 17 may be relatively great without increasing theslaclr inthe train line because the relative movement between 'the center member'and the remainder of the car is not cumulative between adjacent cars.lis a matter of fact, in the form' shown, this slaclr is less than thatnow considered standard, the same being limited to the relative movementbetween the couplers and the center member.

lt will be noted that the friction shoes have a much greater travelrelative to the center member than to the bolster. ln the event thatthis relative movement produces gallin or seizing of the friction shoes,the resilient means at the opposite end of the car is sulficientlystrongl to return the center member to its normal position. ils thelatter moves to normal position, the seized shoes will move with thesame and be withdrawn from engagement with the diamond-shaped por# 'tion13a of the bolster, whereupon the afiliacent resilient member 31 actsthrough the follower plate 30 on 'the adhering shoe, in such a manner asto tilt or cant the shoe and thereby positively release the latter fromits adherence with the Center member. T he friction shoes are thuspositively released in the event of seizure. lt is pointed out, however,that the capacity of the resilient means associated with the frictionshoes is so great, and

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the friction surfaces are so large that, except under the most unusualconditions, there is no likelihood of the friction elements seizing.

The resilient means and friction elements employed adjacent the oppositeends of the center member act to yieldingly resist relative longitudinalmovement of the center member in either direction. All forces andstrains thrown on cars of the various types now in use, which forces andstrains invariably result in damage if the same are excessive, areabsorbed by a draft gear having a travel of approximately 21/2 to 3inches. By the use of the present invention the necessity for draftgears of the type now in use is eliminated and the strains placed on thecar structure are absorbed by a plurality of mechanisms which may have atravel two or three times as great as that of the usual draft gears, ifdesired. Moreover, the travel of draft gears heretofore used cannot beincreased in order to more effectively absorb the shocks incident to theusual operation because this would increase the slack of the train line.As pointed out above, by means of the present invention the slack of thetrain line may be decreased if desired.

The present invention includes new principles in car construction since,among others, it provides for a variation in the ratio of travel betweenthe train slack means and the shock absorbing means. In devicesheretofore employed, the'train sla'ek has been substantially equal tothe draft gear travel (the ratio has been substantially unity), while inthe present invention there is provided a different ratio, both as totravel and capacity, between the energy absorbing means and the trainslack means, the former being increased relative to the latter. By theuse of the present invention the switching speed may be greatlyincreased with safety, thus speeding up train operation. Since trainslack can bev reduced, longer trains can be safely handled and heaviercars may be constructed because of the large capacity of the energydissipating means.

Due, to the great amount of train slack in trains as now operated, carsare frequently derailed b an emergency application of the brakes, w enthe latter are applied intentionally or through a break in the air line.

By thel use of the present invention derailment of cars under the aboveconditions is eliminated, since this invention'permits of a redeterminedtrain slack, which slack may be relatively low, and at the same timepermits relatively long travel shock absorbing means to be employed. 'Arelatively small amount of train slack is desirable to prevent acombined and simultaneous effort of all cars, in a train, againststarting or stopping.

In railway cars ofthe type now in use, the pulling force of the engineis exerted through yielding means, since said cars are provided withresilient members, or resilient and friction members, intermediate thecouplers. When a train of these cars are in motion, dynamometer recordsshow that said yielding means are continuously oscillating, and that aconsiderable-amount of energy is thus lost.

The present invention embodies means which substantially eliminates theloss of energy resulting from the continuous oscillation of the yieldingmeans referred to above, since in the present structure the pullingforce of the engine may. if desired, act through rigid connectionsthroughout the train.

As showrl in Fig. 2, when a number of cars embodying the presentinvention are coupled to form a train, the pulling force of the cngineacts directly through coupler 37, key 38 and center member 17 of all theears, no vielding means being interposed throughout the entire line ofdraft. Each car body is protected, however, by the yielding means suchas is constituted by springs 3l and the friction elements referred toabove.

It will be perceived that the structure of the present inventionconforms closely to the standard construction at present employed. Sincethe draft sills may have abutting en- ,ffagement with the center sill bymeans of the shoulders 19", and if desired by means of the shoulderssurrounding the openings 19, substantially no shearing strain is placedon the rivets 20, which secure the draft sills to the center sill.

Heretofore an attempt has been made to prevent damage to the carstructure by increasing the weight and strength of the center sill,4draft sills, etc. This increase in weight and strength only increasesthe difficulty of preventing damage, since the over-all weight of thecar is correspondingly increased, and this results in an increase inforces to be absorbed. By the use of the present invention the weight ofthe structural elements of a ear, for example the center sill and dra ftsills, may be materially decreased because of the manner in which thedestructive forces are yieldinglyr resisted and absorbed. As hereinemploye( the term cross bearer refers to the transverse supportingmembers mounted. intermediate the body bolsters` said cross bearersguiding the longitudinally movable center member in its relativemovementand transferring the weight of the car flooring and the lading from thecenter member to the side sills.

Various changes may be made in the details of construction withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention, as defined in the appendedclaims.

lVhat is claimed is 1. An underframe structure for a railway carcomprising a pair of holsters having openings therethrough, meansassociated with said holsters including a center member adapted forlongitudinal movement relative to said holsters, side sills secured tosaid bolsters, a plurality of cross bearers having openings thereinsecured to said side sills intermediate said holsters, and means securedto said' cross bearers adjacent the openings therein',l for guiding thecenter member through said openings.

2. il cross bearer comprising a Hanged member having an opening in thecentral p0rw tion thereof, and means secured to a lateral tace ot themember including a center brace extending across the central portion ofsaid opening t'or strengthening said flanged member. l5 3. ln a railwaycar, a cross bearerl of the type adapted to be mounted intermediate thecar body holsters, comprising an integrally formed member having anopening in the central portion thereb'll and a casting provided m with acenter brace portion secured to said member, said center brace extendingacross the central portion of said opening for strengthening theintegrally formed member, the casting also being provided with flangesconstituting extended bearing surfaces.

Zl. lln a railway car, a cross bearer ot' the type adapted to be mountedintermediate the car bodybolsters comprising a member having an openingtherein, and means secured to 30 said member adjacent said opening forstrengthening the member and Jfor providing a bearing surface, saidmeans including a center brace extending across the central portion otthe opening, and a plurality of ears extendw ing laterally from saidcenter brace.

5. An undertrame structure for a railway car comprising, in combinationWith body bolsters and a longitudinally movable centerl member, a crossbearer mounted intermedi- 0 ate said holsters including a member havingan opening therethrough, and means secured to the second-named memberhaving a portion extending across the central portion of said openingand having lateral portions constituting guides for the center member..

6. lln a railway car, a longitudinally movable center member, transversesupporting and guiding means including a pair of body holsters tor saidcenter member, a plurality 0 ot cross bearers mounted intermediate saidholsters and operatively associated with the latter, said cross bearershaving openings therethrough, and means including a center braceextending across the central portion of an opening in one of said crossbearers lor preventing movement ot the center member in a lateraldirection relative to said cross bearers and tor strengthening thelatter.

ln testimony whereof l have signed this a specilication.

0TH@ c. Duuren.

